How the Mexican Aristocrat Stole Christmas
by corneroffandom
Summary: Alberto Del Rio is decidedly not in the mood for anything festive this year.


A/N: The timing for this story is ridiculous.

2012 had been bad. Injuries, numerous title opportunity losses, blatant disrespect from most everyone around him. By the time Christmas time comes around, Alberto Del Rio just wants to see the end of 2012 and have a chance to make 2013 _his._ But most people are so cheerful, with their decorations and their party plans, that the tail end of the year seems to be dragging out longer than the beginning of the year had when he was holed up after surgery, Ricardo Rodriguez right alongside him, still recovering as well from the nasty spill he'd taken at TLC.

The Mexican aristocrat stews. And he stares. Ricardo had picked up on his mood quite awhile ago and had ducked into a corner to do his various pre-show chores in silence, trying to make sure that Del Rio will look his best despite the foul temper he's in. It's the week before Christmas and even though they'd arrived at an early hour in an attempt to miss everyone, the place is already decorated with various bright lights and even music is playing, the two men unable to avoid it despite holing up in Alberto's personal locker room. The noise travels, the light gleams under a small gap between his door and the floor. Even Ricardo stuffing a towel he'd gotten from the main locker room's shower in the crack hadn't helped, just the _knowledge _that beyond that door, these things were going on at all enough to pick at Del Rio's self control.

Finally he gives up on sitting quietly and trying to ignore the various nuances that are poking obnoxiously at him. Standing, he turns to where Ricardo is hesitantly staring at him from the corner of his eye. "Come," he snaps, brushing the ends of his scarf until they billow out and drift across his shoulders as he walks purposely out of his room, Ricardo following along obligingly and only just stopping long enough to pull the locker room door shut behind them.

He desperately wants to ask his employer what they're doing but his words fail him, still uncertain about what could possibly set Del Rio off any further and not wanting to risk it. A quick stop at the seamstress' workroom, which is thankfully empty for now, and Alberto watches closely as Ricardo follows his directions, picking up a large, empty Rubbermaid container that they use to carry their various supplies and fabric from event to event. It's nearly time for the other superstars to start showing up, Del Rio relieved after all that they'd arrived at such a ridiculous hour this morning. "Hurry," he snaps at the younger man who quietly sneaks into catering and blinks at all of the lights and decorations covering almost every surface. There are voices in the kitchen but no one seems to be paying any attention to this area, so he nods at Alberto, signaling him to come in.

They begin working quietly, Del Rio's first move to find the iPod and its dock that's playing all of the music, stuffing it into the container. From there, they collect all of the lights and festive bulbs and ceramic houses, stuffed snowmen and bears with Santa hats on their heads and garland scattered all over the place. It all just barely fits into the container and Ricardo gingerly presses the lid down, turning to watch as Alberto surveys the room with a keen eye. "Very well," he mumbles, giving it a pass. "Go, hide that. When you return, that cheap artificial tree will need to be removed from here as well."

Shaking down the feeling of guilt spreading through him, the ring announcer lifts the bin up and walks slowly outside with it, placing it by Alberto's car, which is always parked miles away from the others' to avoid any accidents. Confident that no one will spot it, he turns back to the arena and prepares himself to drag the tree out. He isn't sure what Alberto is thinking, _why_ this needs to be done, but it's not his job to question him so he shoulders the burden, as always, and does what is demanded of him.

He's not sure afterwards how he succeeds at getting the tree where the former WWE champion had wanted it without tearing his tux or causing any damage to the car, but he does. Catching his breath in the freezing December air and brushing plastic green strips of paper from his black clothes, he stares back at the arena and winces. The individual locker rooms are barely big enough for decorations, much less trees, so all of it had been in the catering area... and now that was as devoid of holiday cheer as the rest of the arena. He's conflicted, wanting nothing more than to appease Del Rio and make him happy and yet also liking Christmas enough that to... pull a Grinch, as it were, leaves him cold and empty inside.

He shakes his head and re-enters the arena, burying his hands in his pockets as he spots his employer standing in the doorway of his locker room, watching a few of the others begin to trickle inside, faces falling as they spot the lack of decorations, a somber murmur coming from the steadily growing group of Superstars who'd looked forward to seeing what the WWE staff would've had waiting for them. As the news spreads, Alberto steps aside so Ricardo can enter as well, his sneer wide as his eyes gleam with pleasure at what he'd caused. Eyes on the floor, the ring announcer inches into the room and waits for Del Rio to tire of watching what mayhem he'd caused, find something else for him to do to keep his guilt-ladden mind occupied.

They haven't moved, Alberto still enjoying the show while Ricardo stands painfully still behind him, when something happens that neither man expected. A subtle, almost too low to be heard, sound echoes down the hallway, slowly overwhelming the sad mumbles. Del Rio shifts so he can see what exactly's going on, his eyes narrowing as he realizes: Zack Ryder of all people had broken away from the others and, standing all alone in the middle of the hall, began to sing. Inching forward so he too could see, Ricardo realizes, oddly enough, that he's singing _Deck the Halls, _the very song that had been playing earlier in catering before Del Rio had disconnected the iPod dock. He glances sideways at his employer, wondering if he noticed also, but he looks so surly once more that it doesn't seem to matter to him.

3MB, not to be outdone, joins in a few moments later- and it seems to take all anyone can stand to not duck away and cover their ears with _that_ foursome singing- but thankfully, more join in, the group steadily growing until the impromptu singalong session seems to be raising everyone's spirits, despite the fact that most of them are far from great singers.

Del Rio stares out, dumbfounded, before grabbing Ricardo by the collar of his tux and pulling him closer, ignoring Ricardo's hand reaching up to his to try to ease some of the pressure on his clothes. "How? How could they still sing Christmas carols despite there being no decorations, no lights?" He stews again, turning back to look out of the door as one song ends and another begins, the group still seeming unaffected by their unimpressive surroundings. "Why are they still so _cheerful_ and _happy_ with nothing waiting for them? I don't understand." He glances at the ring announcer, as if trying to determine if _Ricardo_ understands, when he sees it in the younger man's eyes: he does. Despite everything, no matter how horrid _Ricardo's_ year had been- brogue kicks leaving him in rehab for nearly two months, having food thrown at him, spilled over him, everything else he'd endured- _he_ seems to be welcoming to the idea of Christmas, a lingering, overpowering _guilt_ in his eyes as he looks up at his employer.

His pondering, however, is interrupted when he hears it. Rain pouring down on the roof overhead. He pales and looks up, Ricardo realizing too what this means but frozen in place as he waits for his employer to say, do something. He suddenly begins to move desperately, pushes the door open and tugs a confused Ricardo out of it, dragging him along as he rushes out of the building. "Come, come!" They're drenched immediately, Del Rio not even caring as he runs across the parking lot to where his car is waiting, the decorations and tree sitting patiently on the ground. Thankfully the decorations themselves are safe, in the bin, but the tree... Unwilling to give up, despite it just being a cheap, artificial tree that Del Rio could buy ten million of in his sleep, he pushes Ricardo towards it, struggling to get a good hold of its slippery, wet base and help the ring announcer haul it up.

The trip back, with the tree between them and Ricardo carrying the bin of decorations with the lower part of the tree resting on top of it and its stand poking out from under his arm, is hazardous, the pavement wet and slick as the rain shifts to freezing rain, the temperatures steadily plummeting as time passes. Both of them almost lose their balance as their feet slip from under them a time or two, the whole thing about to fall apart at a moment's notice, but somehow they manage to collect themselves and continue on each time, reaching the door safely and stumbling inside, both drenched, cold messes- but the Christmas decorations are safe and, despite looking more worn than usual, even the tree has survived the madness. Ignoring the incredulous looks shot their way, the two men stumble into catering and begin setting the tree back up, Superstars finally catching on and finding paper towels and anything else handy to begin to dry off the drenched branches and stem.

Still a bit breathless and shivering hard, Ricardo and Alberto stumble away to just observe as the others begin to dig through the bin and do what wrestlers do best: fix a hopeless situation as quickly as possible. Bulbs return to the mostly dried tree, lights are strung back up, the garland is sprawled across the room once more, and the various stuffed creatures are passed from person to person as they place them here and there. Zack Ryder handles the last piece of the puzzle as he figures out where the iPod dock goes and sets it back up once more to cycle through the Christmas music that had been such an aggravation to Del Rio only an hour earlier.

The two men stand in the doorway and just watch as the others finally begin the festivities for real, some singing along to the music, and others grouping together to talk and tease each other. Even those who tend to have issues in ordinary times seem to give it up for the moment as no fights break out, peace reigning over the room while they all wait for food to be served shortly. Alberto turns when he notices his ring announcer shuddering and his eyes soften as he realizes just how soaked Ricardo is, and he too now that he's paying attention to such things. Resting a heavy arm across his ring announcer's shoulders, he turns him away from the boisterous room. "Come, Ricardo. Let's go get dried off, warmed up."

"Si, El Patron."

His hair tousled and only a bit damp still, Del Rio runs a towel over his head nearly half an hour later when there's a knock at the door. He frowns but nods as Ricardo, now in a simple black shirt and slacks, hesitantly heads over to it, his tux hung up over the vent in the corner of the room as it dries off. They both blink upon realizing that it's Zack Ryder and Ted DiBiase at the door, wearing Santa hats and looking both cheerful and goofy at the same time. Which, in reflection, isn't too different for either of them, but it's somehow _worse_ today. "What do you want?" the ring announcer asks, his shoulders tense as he waits for _some_ sort of retribution for what they'd done to Christmas earlier.

This doesn't happen. Brushing past him, Zack and Ted enter Del Rio's locker room like they'd been invited and Ryder even goes so far as to sling an arm across Ricardo's shoulders, pulling him in close with one of his ridiculous, blinding grins. Del Rio's eyes narrow, just daring DiBiase to even _try_ touching him, but the Million Dollar Man apparently had raised his son with some sort of sense, because Ted keeps his distance, lips twitching as he catches sight of the look on Ricardo's face while he stares distastefully at Zack's overly tanned skin touching one of the few items of clothing he has on hand that's not soaked, worried that the self-tanner will leave marks on the fabric. "Whatcha doing in here, bros? Party's out there!"

Del Rio and Ricardo both look even more disgusted by this, the ring announcer finally shrugging himself free from Zack and going to stand near his employer, where he's safe. Well, relatively. Undeterred, Ryder and Ted face them and this time, Ted tries. "We noticed you're the only two in the arena who's not out in catering and figured we'd come invite you to join the rest of us."

Del Rio sneers, glancing over at Ricardo as he silently lingers beside him. Despite Ricardo's own dislike of these two's actions, there's a bit of longing in his eyes and it's this more than anything that makes the older man halfway consider it. "Why would you?" he asks anyway, squinting at the two men. "We almost ruined your... festivities," he spits out with some disgust. "What is the point of inviting us?"

After the two exchange a glance, it's Zack's turn to attempt. "Why do we need a point, bro? It's the holidays, everyone should be welcome. Even if they deserve coal in their stocking this year." His grin doesn't falter, only grows as Ricardo grips Del Rio's sleeve, mortified at the thought of only getting _coal_ for Christmas due to their actions.

Realizing that they're not really getting anywhere, Ted nudges Zack. "Yeah, well, just consider it. Catering isn't going anywhere... now." The two leave and Ricardo quietly moves away to check his tux, grimacing at just how damp the material still is.

Del Rio watches him for a moment before clearing his throat. When the ring announcer's glum face turns towards him, he takes a breath, not quite believing he's about to ask this. "Do you want to go for a bit, at least get some food?"

"Really?" Ricardo's eyes brighten and he nods in confirmation. "Si, El Patron!" The look on his face almost becomes comical as, instead of remaining behind and waiting for a plate to be brought back to him as usual, Del Rio joins him and they walk side by side to catering, Christmas music growing louder and lights brighter with each step they take. Alberto's annoyance seems to have faded and he barely even grimaces at it all, simply standing still as they peer inside of the room, taking it all in.

Most of the locker room _is_ still hanging around, enjoying the decorations and laughing over their various plates of food. Finally they're spotted by Zack Ryder who leaves the table he's splitting with Ted DiBiase and Dolph Ziggler and heads their way, a plate of cookies in one hand and what looks like... eggnog with gingerbread pieces in the other. "Took you long enough, bros! C'mon."

_No_ _one_ can ignore Ryder's loud voice so Del Rio notes with some trepidation as the rest of the Superstars look up to see who exactly Zack's talking to. Some look surprised to even see them standing there, but no one makes any kind of threatening move or barely pays them any mind after the initial shock passes, returning to their own food and conversation as Del Rio and Ricardo hesitantly venture into the room. They exchange wary glances as they settle in at Ryder's table, the only other free chairs in the room actually at the table behind them, which... Del Rio cringes... is where 3MB and Wade Barrett are sitting, the Brit seeming to entertain himself by throwing out more barbing insults towards his tablemates as they become louder and more obnoxious with each passing minute.

Ricardo swallows after a bit, looking as awkward as Del Rio feels. "I'll, I'll get you a plate, El Patron." He all but _dashes_ from the table and Alberto envies him this right even as he leans back in his chair and just surveys the area.

Barely a second later, Ryder gets up and begins to follow his unfortunate ring announcer. "Hey, bro, you have to try the gingerbread eggnog! I brought it, it's ssssssiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccck kkkkkk!"

"That's one word for it," Ziggler grumbles, indeed looking ill at just the description of the drink. DiBiase chuckles, looking perfectly at home in this madness as he peers around the room at all of their co-competitors. Following his lead, Del Rio glances around as well at all of the people, how noisy and happy they all are.

By the time Ricardo returns with a plate of ham and mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and a couple of rolls for him, with a warm glass of apple cider, Zack coming up with a similar plate (and a glass of that horrid drink that his ring announcer glances wearily over at) that he figures must be Ricardo's, he thinks he understands it all a little more. With or without the decorations and the music and everything else, this room full of people had all decided to spend this time together, whether they liked or hated each other. Despite Christmas still being over a week away, they'd grouped together here- because that's what Christmas is really about: whether you're with your family or others, in the end, it's about togetherness and forgetting the bad times to focus on the good, no matter how temporarily.

Once Ricardo finishes setting Del Rio's things out the way he likes, he sits back down in his chair and glances over at Alberto, who is staring at him with a small smile on his face. "Gracias, Ricardo," his employer says, the younger man's eyes widening even further in surprise. He subtly nods his head at Ricardo's plate, urging him to eat, before picking up his own utensils and beginning to work over his food.

Looking around once more at all of the decorations and soft lights twinkling overhead, and at his employer appearing to allow himself to enjoy it, Ricardo smiles too, his dark eyes sparkling with renewed happiness. Even the disturbing appearance of that drink that Ryder keeps pushing closer to him every few moments, determined he try it, couldn't ruin his good mood now.


End file.
